The US military has announced it will send about 400 specialists and hundreds more “enabling forces” to train the rebel Syrian opposition as Washington takes its fight against the Assad government and Islamic State to a new level.

Israeli hostilities against Syria should be considered an attack on all of Damascus’ allies, said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, warning that all necessary preparations for a future war with Israel have been made.

A US military veteran said joining a Kurdish group fighting Islamic State militants in Syria was as “easy” as buying an airline ticket, highlighting the simplicity with which westerners have joined both Islamic State and its foes.

US and coalition airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria have killed nearly 1,200 people ‒ including 52 civilians ‒ and wounded at least 800 others at a cost of more than $1 billion since the bombings began in September.

Terrorism is being exported to the Middle East from Europe, especially from France, said Syria’s President Bashar Assad in an interview to French media. He also criticized Western states for politically supporting terrorists in the region.

Aleppo province is locked in ongoing fighting between a mix of hardline Islamists with so-called moderate opposition, and Syrian govt forces. Yet, RT’s Maria Finoshina found that combatants are still making profit off Syria’s former industrial center.